


Screaming in Silence

by destielwithashotgun



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Jughead Jones, Deaf Jughead Jones, F/M, FP Jones II's A+ Parenting, Hurt Jughead, Hurt/Comfort, I can't stop watching, I don't know how to tag this, I don't know what I'm doing, I love Sweet Pea, I'm trapped, Jughead Jones Is Not Aromantic, Poor Jughead Jones, and fangs, this show is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 16:35:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17165447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destielwithashotgun/pseuds/destielwithashotgun
Summary: Jughead Jones did not feel sorry for himself. His mom had left him (taking his sister with), his dad was an on again off again alcoholic, and he was more familiar with homelessness than he probably should be. But he does not feel sorry for himself. At least, not until a  car accident destroyed his life.





	Screaming in Silence

**Author's Note:**

> If we're being honest, this show is a mess yet I can't stop watching. I really can't. It's a guilty pleasure now, so what else am I going to do but write fanfiction about it. By the way, I know literally nothing medically related so we're just going to pretend that everything I write is accurate.

Jughead Jones did not feel sorry for himself, even when he hit rock bottom. Correction, even when he FELT like he had hit rock bottom. He had no idea how much worse things could get. 

Betty Cooper had accepted him for everything that he was. Loner. Southsider. Serpent. Weird kid who never took off his dumb beanie. And she stayed accepting when he came out to her, even if she didn't understand everything about his sexuality. Asexual, but not Aromantic. It's not that he was disgusted by sex, but he had absolutely no desire to ever do it. Maybe as he grew, with Betty by his side (because there was no doubt he loved her), his feelings would change. Maybe they wouldn't. And she would accept him either way. 

Through everything, they stuck together. Even when they had to go through things that were...unimaginable, they hardly strayed from each other's side. Sure, there were rough patches. The time he joined the serpents was one of them, though they had far more good days than bad. Bad days came from stress, and were resolved soon after they started. Somehow, even though they were involved in all of the sin and secrets the town of Riverdale hid, they managed to stay together. They managed to have peaceful moments too, which seemed almost impossible for the longest time. And then everything went wrong. 

She had always been worried about him and his bike, even as he taught her to ride. Sometimes she even borrowed it, though she had to battle anxiety every time she used it. Jughead would offer to drive her wherever she needed to go on it, but she always shook her head and insisted she do it herself. Jughead loved her stubborn streak. But it turned out she was right. Or maybe she wasn't. Maybe it would have happened even if he wasn't riding the damn bike. Or maybe the injuries would have been less severe. 

He doesn't know who does it. All he know's is that he's on his way back to the trailer park and suddenly he's flying to the side. His bike practically rolls over him as he lands in the grass, and he can hear the sound of squealing tires speeding away from the crime scene. The pain hits him a second later, and suddenly he can't breathe. There is a burning in his side and in his chest. His head feels like it's exploding into a billion different parts and his arm is numb, sharp sparks of pain occasionally shooting from his fingertips. There is a low hum of pain in his shin, but it is for overshadowed by everything else he is feeling. 

He gasps lowly and then groans, the noise escaping him without permission. Or maybe he doesn't make a noise, because everything seems fuzzy in his ears and something in the general vicinity of where his voice should be coming from hurts. 

His phone. He needs to get to his phone, call Betty, or his dad, or 911. But he can't seem to get himself to move. He knows that his phone is trapped somewhere in his leather jacket (which, thankfully, seems to have saved him from the worst of the road rash), and there is no way he can force his arms to maneuver in the right way so that he can grab it. Instead, his body decides that passing out is the best option. 

When he wakes up next, he can feel the sway of a car. Everything is blurry, but he can just about make out the shape of somebody leaning over him. There is absolutely no noise, which is unsettling, but he can't bring himself to care. The pain he was feeling on the side of the street has been dulled, but he can still feel the low ache everywhere in his body.   
The person leaning over him reaches down and suddenly there's such a searing pain in his chest that he blacks out again (and this time he's grateful.)

He wakes up again on a bed that feels papery, surrounded by white. He feels high, high so that he doesn't feel anything. The TV is playing on the wall, but he can't hear it. He isn't aware enough to be scared about it. He fall's asleep before he can catch sight of his dad asleep in the chair against the wall, Sweet Pea and Fangs on the window seat next to him. They don't realize Jughead is awake for those few, fleeting seconds. 

The final time Jughead wakes up, he stays awake. FP is the only one in the room, tapping something out on his phone. Jughead can smell the sharp stench of the hospital, wrinkles his nose and then...oh God. Why can't he hear anything? 

He panics, sitting up way too abruptly and causing a whole bunch of the machines hooked up to him to beep loudly. FP glances up and is out of his chair in a second, quickly moving next to Jughead. His mouth starts moving, and then he seems to remember that Jughead can't hear him. He grabs his phone while Jug continues to panic, practically wheezing. His head is back to that exploding feeling, and FP seems to notice that he is about five seconds away from passing out again. 

Abandoning his phone, he pushes Jughead back onto the bed and keeps his hands wrapped around his son's wrists. There are no reassuring words he can make that will reach Jughead's ears, so all he does is look at him and try to mouth the words 'it's ok' over and over again. Suddenly there are nurses in the room, which only makes Jughead panic more. FP is still trying to calm him when they inject something into his IV and the world slows down around him. 

Jughead watches the nurse, a man in blue scrubs and white sneakers, talk to his dad for a moment. He can't find it in him to panic again, which just makes him want to cry. In fact, there are tears burning in his eyes when his dad turns to come back and sit beside him. For the first time, Jug let's himself take stock of his body. 

There is a cast on his arm going all the way up to his elbow. There is already writing on it, but there is no way Jughead can concentrate enough to read it at the moment. He's wearing pajama type things instead of a gown, and an IV is inserted into his hand. There is an oxygen tube that snakes around into his nose, and Jughead absently reaches up to pull at it. FP shakes his head and gently removes it from his grasp. He doesn't feel like looking at his injuries anymore. 

"Dad," he tries to say. He can feel himself making a noise, but he can't hear it. He watches FP press his lips together, and tries again, eyes widening. The sedative in his blood stream is keeping him from freaking out, but he feels trapped. The urge to move, to scream, to cry, is overwhelming but he can't do anything but let tears trickle from his eyes. 

FP grabs his phone and starts typing frantically, as Jughead spirals. Just as he's on the verge of hyperventilating, the phone is shoved in his face and he forces himself to concentrate on the words written on the screen. It takes much longer than usual for his eyes to focus on what he is reading. 

You were in a car accident. Somebody found you on the side of the road   
and called the police. We don't know who hit you, but they estimate you   
were out there for about an hour. 

Jughead has to pull away for a minute, his eyes aching. While he squeezes them shut, tries to process what has happened to him, FP continues to type. 

When they found you, you had a punctured lung, three broken ribs, an arm   
broken in three different places, and a concussion. It's pretty bad too.   
Also, the trauma damaged your ears. I'm sorry son, they can't fix it.   
You'll be deaf for the rest of your life. 

Fp looks so sorry, so pitying, and Jughead has never seen that expression on his face before. He closes his eyes again, trying to deny everything he had just read. The pressure behind his eyes has escalated so that it feels like his head is about to explode, but he gestures for the phone anyway. Hesitantly, his dad hands it over and Jughead begins to type. It takes him three times as long, because the words keep floating off the page, but he finally has the only question he cares about written down. 

hearing aides? 

Jughead know's the answer before his dad even replies. By the way his face falls, by the way he looks even more heartbroken, by the way he doesn't want to meet Jugheads eyes.   
Jug knows. 

I'm sorry. We don't have the money for them right now. I'm trying. I'll get   
another job. The serpents will pitch in. Fangs, Sweet Pea, and Toni have   
already been visiting. So has Archie and the Sheriff's son. Even that Blossom   
girl came by. 

There is only one question that Jug has after that, though he know's the answer to this question as well, even before he asks it. 

betty? 

FP shakes his head, doesn't try to make any excuses for the Cooper girl, and glances out the window. Jughead tries to make excuses in his mind, but he know's. He know's there is no excuse other than it's just too hard for her. And if it's too hard for her now, then it will be to hard for her later. Jughead doesn't even know sign language (though after this he know's he will be learning as quick as possible), and who want's a boyfriend who you can't talk to. Jughead turns away and closes his eyes. It takes him an hour to fall asleep, despite being exhausted. 

He's in the hospital for the next week. Archie comes every day, though Jughead doesn't do much when he's there. He can't watch TV for very long, because he can't hear and it hurts to read the subtitles after a while. Sometimes Archie will bring a board game and they'll play, but Jug can't say that he's very enthusiastic about it. Fangs and Sweet Pea come a lot too, though they don't try to force anything. Jughead actually enjoys their company, even though it's hard to watch them be all couple-y. They try to hide it, they know about Betty, but he can see it in the way they sit so close together, in the way they look at each other. He does his best to ignore it, though it hurts. 

When he is finally allowed to leave the hospital, almost all of his friends show up. Toni comes along with Sweet Pea and Fangs, and of course she brings Cheryl with her. Archie comes, brings Kevin and Veronica, who had both visited occasionally though it was harder for them to pretend that Betty doesn't exist. The first time Veronica visit's she tries to make an excuse for her best friend, but Archie stops her. Jughead cuts the visit short that day. 

It only takes a few days of him being back for him to go stir crazy. He's off of school until he get's better, which he's grateful for. Going to school means seeing Betty, and he is definitely not ready for that. Instead, he spends his time teaching himself sign language until his headache get's so bad he can barely see straight. He ends up making good progress, and the first few days FP even learns enough so that they can hold a few conversations. 

It doesn't last very long, because FP is working three jobs to pay for the hospital bills, trying to find a way to get Jughead the hearing aides that he want's so desperately. Sign language is hard with one hand in a cast, and Jughead refuses to speak until he can hear himself. And of course, his dad falls off the wagon. 

The first time, he only has a few drinks before going to bed, absolutely exhausted. The second time, Jughead sits there and watches as his dad down's as much alcohol as he can take. By midnight, Jug looks on as his dad finishes his last drink and staggers over to the fridge to look for another one. Jughead moves quicker than he probably should, his head swimming, but he holds out a hand and shuts the fridge door as soon as FP opens it. 

His dad starts screaming, face red, and Jughead just stands there and takes it. He can't hear a word of what FP is saying, but the man seems to have forgotten it. He stands there until his dad is done (chest heaving, teeth clenched) and then signs slowly and deliberately; I. Can't. Hear. You. His moves are slow and sloppy, but it gets the point across and his dad's face crumbles. Jughead doesn't even know if his dad understood what he said, he's so drunk, but he know's the general idea. 

Jughead doesn't wait for any sort of drunken apology, or worse, tears, so he turns and walks until he's somewhere else, anywhere else. He ends up behind the trailer park, sitting next to the small stream and watching the water he can't hear bubble over the rocks. When he goes back in the morning, his dad doesn't show any signs of remembering what happened the night before. Jughead think's it's better that way. 

He breaks when his dad leaves for his first shift. He's finally been feeling sorry for himself, and he doesn't know how to take it anymore. Even though he can't hear himself, he yells as loud as he can because he still wants to find a way to break through the wall that covers his ears. He swipes at a bottle that sits alone on the table and it shatters against the wall. It makes him feel a tiny bit better, so he keeps doing it until everything breakable that had been sitting out in the kitchen was shattered. When FP get's home, he doesn't mention the missing dishes. 

And then, nearly two weeks after he get's home from the hospital, Betty Cooper comes to the door. He doesn't hear her knock, of course, but he jumps when she taps him on the shoulder. He hates people sneaking up on him, and he turns around ready to chew out (as best he could) whoever dared to do it. What he see's takes his breath away. 

Betty Cooper, with her blonde ponytail and pastel sweater is standing there, tears making a steady track down her cheek. He shakes his head, presses his lips together, and points toward the door. He doesn't have the energy to lose it. Betty, stubborn as she is, shakes her head. Jughead glares, but he can't yell at her, nor will he stoop so low as to actually force her out of the trailer. Instead, he looks away, figuring that if he doesn't give into her attempts to communicate with her, she'll leave. It doesn't happen that way. 

She touches his chin and makes him look at her. Before he can look away, she makes the symbol for J and touches it to her lips. Jughead know's that people in the sign language world have signs for each other, and this one must be her's for him. Too shocked to look away, he watches as she continues to sign in clumsy motions, words that he knows. 

"I'm sorry. I love you. I love you Jughead. I'm sorry." As much as he wants to deny her, as much as he wants to push her away because he still feels bitter, he also understands. And he still loves her. And she was willing to learn that much sign language for him, maybe she would learn more. He want's to be a pessimist, as he usually is, but he can't stop himself from being hopeful. 

So he takes her in his arms, and he hugs her. And he doesn't let go for a long time.


End file.
